Doyle Warehouse (from rear) before restoration (1995) in its original position.

Interior of the Doyle Warehouse, before restoration.

In 1995 the staff at Fort Steele recognized the Warehouse as an original building in its original place, and realized that there were not many buildings in this category left at Fort Steele. A restoration plan was established and work started in September. Fort Steele carpenter Randy Lucas took charge of the restoration in consultation with Dave Morley, Operations Supervisor, and Derryll White, Curator. New sills were put in place and a floor constructed, then the original structure was tied to the new platform. Lifted with jacks, steel beams were placed lengthways under the structure and a track constructed so that the building could be rolled back and a permanent foundation placed in the original position. With a new roof in place on the original rafters, the building was left to weather the winter of 1995.

Beginning restoration in November, 1995, with building lifted and new floor in.

In the spring of 1996 the Doyle Warehouse was virtually complete. The rot had been cleared from the sides and new dimensional wood scabbed on to the original boards. Our mission was to preserve what we could of the original and let the restoration elements speak for themselves. In April, 1996, all that was left to do was to install some cross-bracing and hang the big front sliding door. Out of nowhere a freak storm rolled down the valley, buffeting the building with a series of strong blasts of wind. Without the lateral stability the building was blown off its wood floor and deposited as a pile of rubble to the south of the foundation. One of the staff members, in tears, managed to catch photographs of the building while the storm was still blowing itself out.

Moving the Warehouse off its site to install a permanent foundation.

Randy Lucas, after assessing the situation, affirmed that the structure was salvageable. We decided that the historical value was sufficient to carry on, and we did just that. By September, 1996, the Warehouse once again stood on its original position. You can see that some cladding was lost, too shattered to save, but that we retained an amazing amount of building fabric, given the situation. In 1997 Gerald Luxton installed a display in the Doyle Warehouse and we opened the building to the public as a new display. As well as the contextual display which presents the original functions of the structure, we plan to install a small didactic display which talks about museum restorations - why and how we do it. We would be hard pressed to come up with a better example of what we do, and why!!

Moving the Warehouse back into its original position.	Front of restored Doyle Warehouse during freak April 24, 1996, storm
The remains of the building from the rear, completely separated from floor platform.	Starting to sort the wreckage in May, 1996, to see what can be salvaged.
One of the roof panels being lifted off, leaving the matchstick piles of walls.	Damage to roof panels appears minimal, so they are set aside.
The walls back together and up, September, 1996, with infilling to account for the accumulated decay and settling.	The front of the Doyle Warehouse with door in place and structure complete. In October, 1996, with new boards replacing losses.
Interior, taken 1998, showing display installed by Gerald Luxton.